Who's influencing Ukraine's vote?

The international observers began arriving here by the planeload Wednesday to oversee Sunday's presidential revote. By the weekend, the number of poll watchers is expected to swell to 12,000, the largest contingent of international observers ever to monitor an election.

The weight of Western interest - and funding - directed at Ukraine's troubled democratic process over recent months has raised questions about the motives behind foreign assistance and its impact on this post-Soviet state.

US Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas has alleged that some $60 million in US funding went overwhelmingly to finance activities that led to the "Orange Revolution," two weeks of protest that followed the disputed victory by Russian-backed Viktor Yanukovich over opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko.

But Americans who have been involved in this process say that ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the US has promoted sound democratic practices - including fair elections - in countries throughout the area of former Soviet influence. The transformation in Ukraine is in part a result of efforts like those.

"What the US has been doing in Ukraine is the same thing we did in Romania and in other East European countries, we have been helping develop and strengthen organizations that support establishing the rule of law, we have worked on strengthening the election process," says Jim Rosapepe, a former US ambassador to Romania with business ties to Eastern Europe.

Mr. Rosapepe and others see a difference between what the US has done, and what they say Russian leader Vladimir Putin has tried to do.

"What we haven't done is go and endorse candidates," he says, referring to Mr. Putin's trips to Ukraine to all but openly campaign for Mr. Yanukovich.

As for whether the US-funded efforts have overreached, especially in election observation during this heated period, Rosapepe says, "We shouldn't be ashamed of it. We should really be proud of what we've helped bring about. I'd say we've helped appropriately raise the hopes of Ukrainians."

But Russia alleges that the US is using "democracy building" as a stealthy means of toppling Moscow-friendly regimes, as in Serbia and Georgia, and replacing them with pro-Western ones.

Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected Russian academic who acted as an advisor to Yanukovich's campaign, claims that alleged US funding for the student group Pora, which spearheaded the Orange Revolution, was part of a cynical powerplay. "This is not democratic," he says. "Such people love democracy less than they dislike Russia."

For most experts, the US role in Ukraine, and to a greater degree that of the European Union, have been important but will not amount to tipping the election in favor of Yushchenko.

"As helpful as we've been, none of it would have mattered if it weren't for the rebellion, the demands for clean elections, that filled the streets," says Simon Serfaty, a US-Europe expert at the center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Page: 1 | 2